GOD..WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO??

Just a rant about how much info im trying to take in..and opinions on top of that , that is causing me to lose sleep. Im a male hairdresser that comes in contact with LOTS of women...so what do i do..blindly go into convincing them to take pictures. Armed with Nikon point and shoot cameras , like a 5700..i take lots of pictures of scantily clad women. So i think cool..i try to step it up and buy a rebel 350 xt. NEVER HAVING BOUGHT A LENSE IN MY LIFE...Without a clue as to 1.8..2.4..numbers to do with lenses. Does anybody else have this problem?? Or am i the only idiot on here..lol. Sorry about the rant..im just frustrated on deciding what lense to get for more glam/nude photography..and more realistically..why i need specific lenses.

Ahem... that picture doesn't look to me as if it was lacking anything, let alone a lens

Great job, welcome to the forum

Best regards,
Andy

cool..got it out..i would like to wait my turn in the proper section before posting my half naked girls..lol

Hey Skinny boy, I think if you really want to get into photography you have to invest time and money.. It's really all depending on what your using the camera for .. I know a guy who make 150,000 a year with his canon rebel XT and a guy who can't make 40,000 a year with his canon 5D .. So it's all about the market .. If your shooting people then you can get away with a nice 35 - 70 mm .. b/c people don't fly away or run away if you get to close like animals do.. that's where you would need a nice zoom .. If your blowing these pictures up to a large size you would need atleast an 8mp, I use a 12.8 mp and love it to death ... but lenses are something you find out with time .. Use what you have now and if you get to a point where it's limiting you ... Then buy what you need..

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Skinnyboy,

posting nudes is perfectly acceptable behaviour ... if you put a 'NWS' (even better: 'Not work safe') into the thread title.

There are those that surf the forum from work, and there are those intimidated by seeing a human body in its natural form

Best regards,
Andy

I don't mean to be a smarta$$, but, neither of those two cameras have been out in the market for a year.

For this type of work get a fast lens, at least f2.8. And for God's sake learn what the 1.8, 2.8 means.

lol..create!! I get his point though. I basically take all my images..shoot in the raw form. Convert them to tiff to work on them..and print them to 8x10..to archive. I just got the digtal rebel 350 xt..and im buying one of the canon 13x19 printers..because i like to display my girls at home. So the only problem im confused with is buying lenses for my in home studio im currently putting together. So im trying to figure out what lighting...on top of it all. BUT i think my first priority is a better lense..and even more so is understanding WHY i need that lense. Ive basically let the point and shoot cameras do all the work and never had to worry about it..

Okay another stupid question..since you guys know what your dealing with..When i look at photography with pictures involving two models in "action" will say. What are they using to not get blurr..no noise..and keep the pictures so sharp. Ive had these two girls that like to model on tuesday..unless they are drop dead still..the pictures are hard to focus and come out blurred. Sometimes ones in focus and one isnt..This is where i need help..and also what lense to use..

I'm not trying to be a smartass, but read a book. The National Geographic Photography Field Guide is an excellent way to learn the basics. It touches on how the camera and lenses work as well as handling, composition and technique. I've seen it at most book stores and it's around $10. It has great pictures that illustrate depth of field and what effect different settings have on a picture.

To stop blur from movement you need faster shutter speeds, how fast depends on what they are doing. For example 1/125 will easily stop casual movement but you'd want 1/500 for someone running.

Noise is a result of ISO speed, higher ISO speeds allow faster shutter speeds but add noise. The most important thing is to get the correct exposure, a bad exposure really brings out noise levels.

Getting everything in focus is a matter of depth of field. There are several factors here including lens aperature, focal legnth and your distance from the subject. Large (small number aperatures) will have less depth of field.

Those numbers (1.8, 2.8 etc) refer to a lenses maximum aperature. The smaller the number the larger the aperature (this is because they are really fractions 1/1.8 is bigger than 1/2.8 ). Larger aperatures will let more light in for faster shutter speeds and can seperate your model from the background, smaller aperatures give you more depth of field to keep everything in focus.

Best thing to do is read here and practice, I'd recommend picking up a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, they cost about $75 and its the perfect lens to learn about aperatures and depth of field with.

That might actually have something to do with the LIGHTING

Best regards,
Andy

If you are going to do people photography... you need to learn about lighting. Well understood, it is what can take your images from ordinary to spectacular. Lenses help and with out a decent lens, you will be frustrated. I am not a great appreciator of the Glam genre of photography, but Charles U is a master of studio lighting... and a lot can be learned from his stuff.

You might also take a look at this thread:

2 new videos online

It's from Frank Doorhof, who (among others here on the forum) shoots great glamour/nude shots ... check out his work.
There are some videos on his website that show him doing this work, and he also is selling a book on glamour photography.

Best regards,
Andy

my advice to you is try to read a few books and ask a lot of questions on this forum.
There are a lot of knowledgable people on this forum (me excluded) who really know their stuff. Also, trial and error. Digital is great for learning. It doesn't cost you anything to take photographs so you can see your mistakes instantly and fix them.
I think if I had two girls "in action" i don't care how fast the shutter speed, my photos would be blurry if you know what I mean. =0) Good luck